Expat hiring: new regulations introduced

Hello everyone,

If you are looking for new career prospects in Saudi Arabia, you should probably start by having a look at the newly introduced regulations.

The private sector will soon not be able to hire foreign nationals unless the positions offered cannot be filled by locals. This newly introduced regulation mainly aims at reducing unemployment rate among the Saudis while increasing employment rate by at least 24% by 2020. Therefore, recruitment procedures will be transferred to the online portal of the Ministry of Labor.

Moreover, expats will not be allowed to occupy jobs in the Human Resource and hiring departments in the private sector. Any company that insists on recruiting foreign nationals will be liable to heavy fines according to the number of expat workers present.

Note that since March 2016, expat teachers are not allowed to teach certain subjects such as Arabic, Islamic Studies and social sciences. Furthermore, they should have at least two years continuous experience in teaching, have the required qualifications, be less than 65 years old and not have taught in the country for the past three years.

Expat teachers are also required to be in possession of a valid resident permit, pass the exam conducted by the National Center for Assessment in Higher Education (Qiyas) and produce a resignation letter from their former workplace.